Rajasthan CM race: Balak Nath Yogi meets Amit Shah, former CM Vasundhara Raje to meet JP Nadda

The suspense over the new chief minister in Rajasthan seems to be at its peak. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mahant Balak Nath, who won the Rajasthan Assembly election from Tijara, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday after resigning as the Member of Parliament from Alwar. Earlier in the day, Balak Nath met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitted his resignation.

Balak Nath is one of the top contenders for the chief ministerial post in Rajasthan, according to sources. Known as ‘Rajasthan ka Yogi’, Balaknath is the eighth mahant of Baba Mast Nath Math. Like Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Balaknath is from the Nath community.

He won from his constituency by a significant margin of 6,173 votes defeating the Congress candidate Imran Khan. 

On the other hand, senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje, who flew to Delhi late on Wednesday, is scheduled to meet BJP President JP Nadda later this evening. Raje, a two-time chief minister, is among the frontrunners for the post of chief minister.

Earlier on Thursday it was reported that BJP is scheduled to hold a crucial meeting in Delhi in which the final CM name will be declared. News reports had said that the party was keen on picking a fresh chief minister face this time. 

On Wednesday, BJP MPs who contested in the assembly elections resigned from Parliament and met PM Modi. Among them were Narendra Tomar, Prahlad Patel, Riti Patha, Rakesh Singh and Uday Pratap Singh from Madhya Pradesh and Rajyavardhan Rathore, Kirodi Lal Meena and Diya Kumari from Rajasthan.

The saffron party ousted the Congress from power in Rajasthan, winning 115 out of 199 seats that had gone to polls in the desert state. 

Earlier in the day, Kishanganj MLA Lalit Meena's father claimed that Raje's son and MP Dushyant Singh taken some MLAs to a resort.A fighting incident was later reported there. News reports claimed that Nadda will be also be discussing this with Raje. 

"...I had gone to take him (Lalit Meena) from 'Apano Rajasthan Resort'...Dushyant Singh took him along. Kanwarlal, an MLA, tried to stop me. He asked me to first talk to Dushyant Singh and then take him.A total of five MLAs were there at the resort," Hemraj Meena, Lalit Meena's father, told ANI.

Lalit Meena was later send to the party office on Wednesday morning.

After the incident, Lalit Meena refused to divulge details. "Whatever happened that night, I informed the party leaders. The party is my family and it is our family matter," he told PTI.